I’ve heard snippets about the concept of Futique, the band’s new album. Is it true you’ve got into meditation recently? SassyWraps
About 12 years ago I had a nervous breakdown, and in therapy I did so much meditation that everything became existential and I thought there was no point to anything. In the last few years I’ve revisited therapy for my mental health but also started to enjoy life. I realised that I hadn’t noticed a lot of my happiest – and saddest – moments until years after the fact. Last year, I looked at old family photos for the first time in 20 years, since my mum passed away. I realised that, by ignoring painful memories, I’d been denying part of myself. I found joy in understanding that everything that happens makes you who you are. It pulled me out of a fog – so the album is about embracing whatever’s happening now. Last year, Ben, James and I fell out for the first time ever, but focusing on the friendship and the positive things we’d shared brought us back together: we could have easily dropped everything and walked away.
Did you really take [Slayer drummer] Dave Lombardo to Greggs in Todmorden [West Yorkshire]? gongpaul
Todmorden is the UFO sightings capital of Europe! We spent eight days there [in Lapwing studio] and it was hilarious. We took Dave for a curry and a pint, and whenever anyone recognised him they were in disbelief. Below the studio, there’s a nursery. The day we left, the council wrote to the studio asking them to close, because the noise of us playing thrash metal upstairs was traumatising the children.
